


Everything is Iridescent

by anakien



Series: Colors [7]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: AU, Gen, colorblind, colorblind!ezra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-21
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-23 16:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8335222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anakien/pseuds/anakien
Summary: Hera was beaming. "It's color. You're seeing color, Ezra."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheAngelofFate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAngelofFate/gifts).



> This is dedicated to TheAngelofFate... I hope you love this as much as I loved writing it!<3
> 
> They brought to my attention the idea of Ezra using those special sunglasses that let people see color. I promptly went and watched half a dozen of those videos and cried because it's so sweet.
> 
> This is set in season 3.

Ezra was sitting cross-legged on his bed, absently polishing one of his stormtrooper helmets. He was thinking about the images from the holocrons, about the shining Twin Suns. He didn't know of any planets or systems with two; Lothal only had two moons. And who knew what would happen if Maul got there first? He could feel his mood grow darker and darker, when all of a sudden Sabine burst into his room uninvited. 

Ezra jumped back, startled. "Don't you ever knock?" He said, putting the helmet aside and hopping down. 

"Not for you, kid," she said. "We're having a ship meeting in the living room. We're all waiting on you." 

Ezra hurried to put the helmet up back in its rightful place and followed her out, half-walking, half-jogging. He could sense her growing excitement in the Force and frowned a little. 

_What's so great about a briefing?_ He thought. He cleared his throat, and Sabine glanced back at him. "What's this meeting even about? I thought Sato gave us a few days to regroup." 

Sabine's grin grew wider. "You'll see," she said. Ezra's suspicion only grew more when he entered the living room. The rest of the crew were already standing around, waiting. Everyone turned and faced him when he entered, and Ezra narrowed his eyes. 

"Ezra," Hera said, patting the open chair in the middle. "Come sit here; we have a surprise for you." 

"A surprise?" Ezra said, looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "For me?" He accidentally stepped on Zeb's foot while sliding past him and grinned at the annoyed look shot his way. He plopped down next to Kanan, whose smile almost rivaled Hera's. 

"What do you know about this?" He asked his master, reaching out through their bond to probe Kanan's mind. Kanan shrugged, his mind perfectly shielded, and Ezra turned to look back at the others. 

"Guess we can say it's an early birthday present," Zeb said, looking far too pleased with himself. 

"My birthday isn't for another three months," Ezra said. Zeb rolled his eyes, and Hera cleared her look with a pointed look at Sabine. 

Sabine pulled out a long, black blindfold from her pocket and waggled it in front of Ezra. He looked at it a moment, calculating then past it at her directly. "Ready?" 

"For what?" He said, but he let her wrap it over his eyes and tie a knot deftly in the back. Zeb waved a hand in front of Ezra's eyes, with no response. He gave Hera a thumbs up, and Hera walked outside to go get the object from her room. Ezra turned to the sound of the door closing behind her, trying to work out what was going to happen. 

Ezra's senses were heightened behind the blindfold; he could feel Kanan's steady presence next to him in the Force. He could hear Zeb's heavy breathing Ezra's, and Sabine's whispers to Zeb that carefully skipped around the subject of the surprise. He squirmed. 

Hera was gone for longer than Ezra expected, and his suspicion and curiosity soon gave way to nervousness. Kanan swung his head in his direction and put a hand on his shoulder. 

"You'll like it," he promised, sending waves of reassurance through their bond. Ezra squirmed a little in his seat, and Kanan slightly squeezed his shoulder. 

"What's taking her so long?" Sabine hissed to Zeb. No sooner than she'd spoken up did the doors come sliding open and Hera's light footsteps padding back towards them. Ezra could hear the rustling of a box and the slight thud as it was set down. 

"Okay, Ezra, you can take off the blindfold now," Hera said. 

Ezra had a nervous smile on his face as he reached up and pulled it off, setting it down on the table. He looked in the box, and it was... a pair of sunglasses? 

He could feel his smile droop a little on the sides. _This is their big surprise?_ He forced himself to smile bigger when he saw how excited the others were. 

"Uh, thanks, guys," he said. He picked up the glasses and looked at them more closely. They were slightly thicker and looked to be just his size. "These are... cool." 

Sabine saw right through his act and merely looked amused. "Aren't you going to try them on?" She asked. 

_Yup, because I definitely need sunglasses in the hollow expanse of space, _Ezra thought. However, he unfolded the glasses and slipped them on his nose. Immediately, things were different.__

__"Whoa!" Ezra gave a strangled gasp and stumbled back. He jerked the glasses off and away from his face. He looked up at Hera and Sabine, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "Wha-? What was that?"_ _

__Sabine and Zeb were both laughing at his reaction, and Hera was beaming. "It's color. You're seeing color, Ezra."_ _

__"Color?" Ezra repeated. Hera nodded, and Ezra slowly put the glasses back on._ _

__It was a little disorienting at first, and it took a few moments for it really to work, but Ezra was absolutely in _love_._ _

__He blinked once, twice, then stood up and walked over to Chopper. He knelt down in front of the Droid and slowly rested a hand on its dome. "What color is this?"_ _

__"Orange," Hera said. Ezra repeated the word before suddenly standing up and whirling around. Zeb was still sitting down in his chair, leaning back and watching the teenager. Ezra ran over to Zeb and put a hand on his fur._ _

__"And this?"_ _

__"It's purple," Zeb said, watching Ezra's reaction. Ezra's eyes were joyful, and he laughed._ _

__"You know, I don't even think I'll mind your fur getting everywhere now if it always looks like this." Ezra said, making eye contact with Zeb._ _

__Zeb snorted. "It always does, kid."_ _

__Ezra turned around again to Sabine. "Your hair is purple too?" Sabine nodded and smiled, tilting her head to the side._ _

__Ezra turned around to face Hera. "Your skin!" He exclaimed. "It's so bright and so pretty," he said, marveling._ _

__"Green," Hera said. His eyes ran over her face and her eyes one more time before swiveling around to Sabine again._ _

__She handed Ezra a mirror, and Ezra looked at his own reflection greedily._ _

__Two - blue, Zeb helpfully supplied - eyes greeted him, and so did his blue hair. Ezra lifted a hand and flattened the top of his hair, watching as it sprung back and bounced._ _

__"This can't be real," Ezra said, shaking his head and setting the mirror down on the table. "This has to be a dream."_ _

__"I can guarantee that it's not," Hera said. "Sabine found these on the HoloNet."_ _

__"After we found out you were colorblind, I did some research and found the glasses. It's got this technology in the lenses that separates light into its primary spectral components before they reach the eye." Sabine explained. "It's actually pretty cool." She admitted._ _

__Ezra's eyes were still wide as he took in the rest of his surroundings._ _

__"So, kid, out of curiosity, how is it different now?" Zeb said, looking at the teenager curiously._ _

__"Well, I can actually see colors now," Ezra replied dryly, looking at Zeb with a smug expression._ _

__Zeb's ears twitched. "You know what I meant."_ _

__Ezra was back to Chopper again, looking at the orange closely. "Everything is... flatter, I guess you can say, without color. With it, everything's deeper. Fuller." Ezra shook his head. "It's amazing."_ _

__His eyes fell on Kanan, with his _green_ mask and _brown_ hair. Kanan was facing his direction, a soft smile on his face. _ _

__"Kanan," Ezra said, just at a loss for words. He lowered his shields completely to let his master feel the full whirlwind of his emotions - the excitement, the joy, the gratitude._ _

__"I know," Kanan said, sending back the happiness of his own, the pride, the enjoyment of feeling Ezra react to this._ _

__Ezra turned back to the others. "Thank you," he whispered, all of the emotions threatening to bubble over now that he let his shields down. They just merely smiled at him, until Sabine grabbed his wrist._ _

__"Come on," she said, moving to tug him out the door. "I want to show you my paintings... for real this time."_ _

__\---_ _

__Once Sabine finished giving Ezra the basic rundown of all of the different colors, she dragged him to each one of her paintings individually, bursting with pride at Ezra's fascination with layering and mixing. From there, she showed him all of her different types of paints, and all of her different colors of hair dye._ _

__"Oh hey, that's the purple I dyed your hair!" Sabine said, pointing out a half empty bottle of dye sitting on one of her paint shelves._ _

__"You know, I still haven't forgiven you for that yet..." Ezra made a grumpy face and picked up the bottle, looking at it more closely. "Although, I do actually like this color."_ _

__"I can dye your hair again!" Sabine exclaimed, snatching the bottle back and rummaging around for her other supplies._ _

__"Absolutely not!" A familiar voice said behind them. Sabine and Ezra both turned around to see Kanan walking by the room, shaking his head and muttering something under his breath._ _

__"But Kanan!"_ _

__"No!"_ _

__\---_ _

__"Ezra!" Hera called, ducking her head into his room. Ezra was running a hand over his different helmets, marveling at the different shades and colors marking each._ _

__The boy in question turned around. The glasses slipped down a little on his nose, and he gave a goofy, happy grin._ _

__"I love these things," he said. "I'm never taking them off."_ _

__\---_ _

__Later, Sabine went to go scout out Ezra, wanting to see if he'd like to help her paint a new mural. She went into his room, and he was asleep on his bed. His legs were sprawled out in an awkward position, and one arm was dangling off the side. His glasses were askew on his face, and he was smiling in his sleep._ _

__Sabine let herself smile and slowly tiptoed away. She could always ask him tomorrow._ _

__\---_ _

__Ezra felt himself being shaken away the next morning and immediately shot up, hands grabbing for his lightsaber._ _

__"Whoa, relax," Kanan said. "It's me."_ _

__"Kanan?" Ezra said blearily. He reached up to rub his eyes and accidentally hit the glasses. He pushed them to the top of his head and smushed his face into his hand. "What's going on? It's too early for this."_ _

__"Come on," he said. "I want to show you something." Ezra hopped down behind him, doing his best not to wake up Zeb. Kanan let one of his hands touch the wall to help lead him down to the cargo bay, where they stopped at the ramp. Kanan fumbled for the switch on the wall and hit it, lowering it to reveal the outside. Kanan stopped, and Ezra paused behind him._ _

__In the dark, Ezra saw the long swaying grasses and blinked in surprise. "We're back on Lothal?"_ _

__Kanan nodded. "There's one thing in particular you need to see with those glasses." Kanan held out an arm, and Ezra looped it with his own, getting ready to lead on._ _

__"Where are we going?" Ezra said, looking back to Kanan._ _

__Kanan shrugged. "You decide." Ezra hesitated a moment, before slowly taking a step. He led Kanan through the tall grasses, directing him around rocks and sleeping loth-cats and anything else in their path. Kanan was silent, and Ezra bit the inside of his cheek in thought._ _

__A slight rushing sound came into earshot. Kanan tilted his ear in that direction. "Do you hear that?"_ _

__"Yeah?"_ _

__"Let's go." Ezra furrowed his eyebrows but did as his master asked, altering their course to the direction of a small stream. It was still dark out, and the moon reflected silver on the water._ _

__Kanan tapped Ezra's arm, and Ezra stepped back, slipping his arm away. Kanan slowly felt around on the ground, knocking lightly to test the rock underneath. Seemingly satisfied with what he felt, he sank down, and Ezra sat down next to him._ _

__"Do you have your glasses?" Kanan asked, turning his head in Ezra's direction. Ezra lifted up his hand and felt around on his head. His fingers closed around the metal, and he pulled them off into his lap. Kanan held out a hand, and Ezra placed them in it._ _

__Kanan weighed them in one hand and traced the rim for a moment before holding them back out. "Did you dream in color last night?"_ _

__Ezra thought back. "I don't remember dreaming at all," he said honestly._ _

__Kanan made a hmming noise, and Ezra looked at him closely. "Kanan, what color were your eyes?" Kanan turned his head sharply and remained silent. Ezra felt his cheeks begin to heat, and he inwardly cursed himself. _Stupid!_ Ezra scolded. _Why didn't you just ask Hera or Sabine?__ _

__"Green," Kanan said. "Teal, really."_ _

__Ezra sat back and tried to think back to the paint Sabine showed him yesterday. She had a teal, but it was still sealed, and she refused to open it. _It's your fault he lost that color_ , his brain reminded him. _ _

__"I'm sorry," Ezra said, feeling that familiar guilt rise up again._ _

__"Ezra, it wasn't your fault then, and it's not your fault now." Kanan said quietly._ _

___If only I believed that,_ Ezra thought. He looked down at his hands, clutching his glasses so tightly his knuckles were turning white. _ _

__Kanan sighed and shook his head. "I didn't bring you out here to make you feel guilty again," he said, sounding frustrated with himself. "However, we have to wait a little while before it's time." He shifted into a position on his knees. "Meditate with me," he said, changing the subject. Ezra mimicked his position and closed his eyes. "Release your feelings into the Force. The regret, the guilt -- let it go."_ _

__Ezra let himself slip away into the solace of the Force._ _

__\---_ _

__When Ezra opened his eyes again, it was much lighter outside, and the sun was rising. He sucked in a deep breath and scrambled to put the glasses on. Kanan stirred from next to him, lifting his head to face the sky._ _

__"The sun's rising," Ezra told Kanan. "It's _beautiful_." _ _

__Kanan opened his mouth, and Ezra cut in slyly. "Aaand you want me to describe it to you?"_ _

__Kanan smirked. "How'd you guess?"_ _

__"We tend to do this a lot," Ezra said, grinning back._ _

__"I guess we do," Kanan said._ _

__Ezra looked back up at the sky. "It's... The color Chopper is. Um..."_ _

__"Orange?"_ _

__"Yeah, and it's red, and uh, a slightly lighter red.."_ _

__"Pink," Kanan filled in._ _

__"There's still blue at the top," Ezra continued. "Like my hair! And there's also... purple? It looks like Zeb's fur."_ _

__Ezra was silent a moment. "You were right, the sunset does look like it was painted on."_ _

__"You know, I do happen to be right on occasion."_ _

__Ezra rolled his eyes. "I know." He bumped Kanan's shoulder. Kanan shifted and turned towards him, stretching out an arm to pat him on the shoulder. Without thinking, Ezra ducked down and hugged him around the middle._ _

__Kanan jerked back a little bit in surprise, but rested his hand on his back and patted him._ _

__"Thank you," Ezra whispered. ___ _

__Ezra looked up at Kanan's confused expression. "For what?" ___ _

__For being there for me, for showing me what I'd never be able to see for myself. For training me. For forgiving me._ _

__"For everything." ____

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to make it angsty: think about how sad Kanan would be that he never got the chance to see Ezra experience color for the first time:) 
> 
> R&R.


End file.
